Wednesday, February 22, 2017

I recently read a thread on a demo-only Facebook page, where the discussion was about using colours on masculine themed cards instead of using the darker, earth-toned colours.

Well, my card uses Crumbcake, primarily. Not because I think I have to use it because I was doing a masculine card. Rather, I used it because it is a colour I love to use for all kinds of projects.

But, I did also use Very Vanilla cardstock, Copper Embossing Powder and Rich Razzleberry ink.

First, on the Crumbcake card base, I sponged the edges with Crumbcake ink, then used a little texture stamp from the High Tide stamp set, inked with Rich Razzleberry, and stamped all along the edges. Kind of looks like red wine, I thought after I had done it!

The first layer, I stamped with the grapes, corks and jugs from Tuscan Vineyard, the brick image from Ghoulish Grunge, and one of the splatter stamps from Gorgeous Grunge - all in Crumbcake ink.

The image panel is the vintage card from Guy Greetings, done in Copper Embossing Powder. I used Rich Razzleberry ink to stamp the word 'enjoy' from the So In Love stamp set. Then I stamped over it with the same texture stamp from High Tide using Rich Razzleberry ink, stamped off once.

I think this card could accompany a gift of a nice bottle of wine for that wine-loving man in your life!

Want to how the other Watercooler Artists have done this challenge? Just visit Watercooler Wednesday. After you are inspired, share your project with us!

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Spring is just around the corner! Although, I'm sure it doesn't feel like it in those areas that are still being hit by storms.

Welcome to our Spring Fever Blog Hop! If you are a regular follower, you know that our Hops are circular. For those who are new to Blog Hops, you can either work your way down the list by visiting the Wacky Watercooler Stamping blog, or if you join in at any point, just keep clicking on the 'Next' button at the bottom to go to the next blog.

If you are following the line-up in order, you have just come from Deborah's blog. Weren't her projects wonderful!

For my first project, I was all set to jump on the succulent bandwagon. It seems the paper-crafting world has been taken by storm and everyone is making such cute assortments of succulents. So, I got out my Oh So Succulent Bundle - stamp set and matching Framelits, grabbed some Always Artichoke cardstock and my Big Shot, and started cutting out succulent parts.

I got to this point - and everything went off the rails!

As I looked at this, all I could see was a stencil! So I grabbed some Whisper White cardstock, a piece of Stampin' Sponge and a So Saffron ink pad.

Because I had placed the dies as close together as possible in order to maximize cardstock use, I used Post-it Notes to cover up areas I didn't want the ink to spread into. I liked how it was going, so I covered the whole piece, using So Saffron and Bermuda Bay inks. Then filled in the spaces with some of the smaller images from the stamp set using Peekaboo Peach and Emerald Envy inks. Here's what I ended up with:

After it was trimmed down, I mounted it onto a Bermuda Bay card base. A sentiment from Tin of Cards was stamped onto Whisper White cardstock with Emerald Envy ink, then cut out with Lots of Labels Framelits, with a Bermuda Bay mat behind and two little So Saffron enamel dots. Here is the finished card:

And, umm, I still haven't made the succulents. But I will!Next up is a card using Inside the Lines Designer Series Paper and the Watercolour Pencils. This DSP is so much fun for anyone who likes to colour!

Colours used are: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Pacific Point. I used a Blender Pen to smooth out the pigment. The sentiment is from Rose Wonder, stamped in Archival Black ink, and the cardbase is Old Olive.Up until two days ago I was still pondering what to do for my third project, when up popped a video on my Facebook newsfeed that grabbed my attention. It was shared by LeeAnn Greff, a fellow Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. She has inspired my on many occasions. Thank you, LeeAnn!Her project uses the Stitched Shapes Framelits and Metallic Thread to do Paper Embroidery. Here's a close-up:

I used Thick Whisper White cardstock (recommended for this technique) to cut the Stitched Shapes circle. For the embroidery part I used the Copper Metallic Thread. The bigger circle is Sweet Sugarplum, and the flower is from Touches of Texture, stamped with Sweet Sugarplum for the focal image, and So Saffron in the background. Here is the full card:

The sentiment is from the Window Shopping stamp set.And now it's time for you to carry on and enjoy the amazing projects Sheri has for you! Just click on the 'Next' button below. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

This week we have a really fun Clean & Simple Challenge, hosted by Heidi, with a bit of a twist - Sparkle!

There are so many choices I could have used for the sparkle part, from the Stampin Up! Glimmer Paper, to the glitter embossing powder from the Holiday Catalogue - even Wink of Stella.

But, I didn't use any of those. What popped into my mind was rhinestones. And just to be a bit different, I used them with the lightbulb image from the Pun Intended stamp set.

The card base is Crushed Curry and the only ink used is Archival Basic Black. I had first coloured the filament part of the light with both clear and gold Wink of Stella, but then went and covered it up with a Faceted Button (ret.). The rays of 'light' coming from the bulb are the rhinestones.

Very Clean & Simple with Sparkle!

So what will you think up? We can't wait to see. Check out Watercooler Wednesday Challenge to see what the other artists have done, then link up your project.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Is it Wednesday, already? Yes! And we have a really fun Colour Challenge at Watercooler Wednesday Challenge, hosted by Marsha. She has chosen a great group of colours - but you don't need to use all of them - unless you want to.

I was initially tempted to reach for one of my many flower-themed stamp sets, but then I remembered seeing a Facebook Live video posted recently by Stampin' Up!'s CEO, Sara Douglass, in which she demonstrates a different way to do a watercolour wash. It was perfect for highlighting three of these colours.

I interpreted three of the challenge colours as Rich Razzleberry, Peekaboo Peach and Mint Macaron. This technique is so simple! Start with a piece of Shimmery White Cardstock. Take an ink refill of each colour and drop it onto a craft mat - or an acrylic block.

Use your Aquapainter and squeeze a bit of water into your first drop of ink and mix it up a bit. Then just paint a swath of ink across the Shimmery White. Repeat with each colour. Let dry. I love the richness of colour you get with this technique.

I added the dragonflies cut with the Dragonfly Dreams framelits and stamped the sentiment from Love Sparkles (found in the 2017 Occasions Catalogue) with Rich Razzleberry. The card base is also Rich Razzleberry.

To see what the other Watercooler Artists have done, visit Watercooler Wednesday. After you've been inspired, link up your creation.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

At the Watercooler this week we have a Sketch Challenge, hosted by Kath.

This design has a lot of elements but is very nicely balanced. I decided to go with a square card - made mine 4" X 4" - and it was a perfect opportunity to highlight my current favourite DSP - the Cupcakes and Carousels DSP Stack.

My card base is Bermuda Bay, one of the colours in this DSP. The three little elements at the top were done by stamping a tiny flower image from the Oh So Succulent stamp set in Bermuda Bay ink. Then I covered them with glue from the Fine Tip Glue Pen. Which made them a bit tricky to photograph. They look a little weird!

The sentiment is also from Oh So Succlent, again stamped in Bermuda Bay.

For the oval, I used Very Vanilla cardstock, another colour in the DSP, and cut it out with the Stitched Shapes Framelits. The flower is from Oh So Succlent, stamped in So Saffron, also a colour in the DSP, on Very Vanilla then cut out with one of the dies in the Succulents Framelits.

I did some sponging around the edges of both the oval and the flower shape. The die cuts out little petals within the bigger petals and I used tweezers to bend them up a bit so they caught some of the sponged colour. A So Saffron dot from the Subtles Collection of Enamel Shapes finishes off the middle.

Visit Watercooler Wednesday and check out what the other Watercooler Artists have done with this sketch. When you have been inspired, link up your creation. We can't wait to see what you do!

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Watercooler Wednesday Challenge

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"This is a personal web site of Gail Allen, an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, and I am responsible for its content. Stampin' Up! does not endorse the use of or contents of the classes, services, or non-Stampin' Up! products I may offer here."